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McConaughey, the youngest of three boys, was born in Uvalde, Texas, the son of Mary Kathleen "Kay" , a substitute school teacher, and James Donald McConaughey, a gas station owner who ran an oil pipe supply business and once played football for the Green Bay Packers. McConaughey has Irish ancestry and had what he describes as a conservative Christian upbringing. McConaughey's mother and late father divorced and re-married each other several times, in what McConaughey describes as a "loving, but unstable relationship". McConaughey moved to Longview, Texas in 1980 and graduated from Longview High School in 1988, where he was voted the "Most Handsome". Matthew lived for a year in Gorokan, NSW, Australia as a Rotary exchange student.

McConaughey began his acting career in 1991, appearing in student films and television commercials in Texas before being cast in Richard Linklater's film Dazed and Confused (1993), after meeting casting director Don Phillips at a bar near the University of Texas at Austin. During this time period, he played the neglective boyfriend in country singer Trisha Yearwood's video "Walkaway Joe". After appearing in some additional small parts in Angels in the Outfield, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, Boys on the Side, and the television series Unsolved Mysteries, McConaughey's big break came as the lawyer "Jake Brigance" in the 1996 film A Time to Kill, based on the John Grisham novel of the same name. In 1997, McConaughey won an MTV Movie Award for best breakthrough performance for the role. He has also twice been nominated for a Blockbuster Entertainment Award. In 1999 he guest starred in the episode The Wedding of Bobby Hill, on King of the Hill.

McConaughey was cast in leading roles in many more movies: Contact, Amistad, The Newton Boys, Edtv, and U-571. By the early 2000s, he was frequently cast in romantic comedies, including The Wedding Planner and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, both of which were successful at the box office. During this period, he appeared as a firefighter in the low-budget film Tiptoes, opposite Rene Russo, in Two For The Money as a protege to Al Pacino's gambling mogul, and in Frailty, cast against type as a serial killer, opposite Bill Paxton.

McConaughey starred in the feature film Sahara (budgeted at $130 million), along with Steve Zahn and Penélope Cruz. Prior to the release of the movie, he promoted it by repeating some trips he took in the late 1990s, including sailing down the Amazon River and trekking to Mali. In 2005, People magazine named him their "Sexiest Man Alive". In 2006, he co-starred with Sarah Jessica Parker in the romantic comedy Failure to Launch, which was reasonably successful at the box office. McConaughey also provided voice work for an ad campaign of the Peace Corps in late 2006. Matthew's production company, j.k. livin, is currently in development on projects with Warner Bros., Universal, Paramount Pictures and Imagine Entertainment and can most recently be seen in the football drama We Are Marshall. He is supposedly in line to star as Thomas Magnum in the 2008 movie Magnum, P.I. In September of 2007, McConaughey was announced to have joined the cast of Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder, replacing Owen Wilson for the role.

McConaughey is currently represented by CAA Co-Chairman Bryan Lourd.

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On October 24, 1999, McConaughey was arrested at his home in Austin, Texas on charges of possession of marijuana and resisting arrest. The police were responding to a 2:30 a.m. noise disturbance call. According to police reports, McConaughey was dancing around naked and playing bongo drums with a friend, actor Cole Hauser, a co-actor in Dazed and Confused (1993). The drug charges were dropped, but McConaughey pled guilty for violating the city's noise ordinance and paid a USD $50 fine. An avid University of Texas football fan, it was rumoured by UT students that he was celebrating after the ranked Longhorns defeated Nebraska 24-20 on October 23, 1999, after attending that day's game. In a press conference following his release, he was wearing a UT burnt orange jacket while speaking to the media where he flashed the Hook 'em sign before leaving. McConaughey rescued various pets, including cats, dogs and hamsters, that were stranded after the flooding of New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina. In 2006 in Sherman Oaks, California, he rescued a cat from two youths who had doused the animal in hairspray and were attempting to light it on fire.

In addition to his home in Austin, he owns a 1,600-acre (6 km²) ranch in Texas. McConaughey is also a member of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity, a high ranked national Fraternity. During his pledgeship he spoke with an australian accent because he thought it was funny. He is a Washington Redskins and University of Texas at Austin football fan, supports the Houston Astros baseball team, and he enjoys hobbies such as running, surfing, swimming, and biking. In July 2006, some of his real-life foibles were documented on "McConaughey's Lost Weekend", a blog with photographs of a "three-day bender in Costa Rica." McConaughey was named People magazine's “Sexiest Man Alive� for 2005. "Extra, NBC" reported in 2006 that McConaughey admits to wearing no underwear and says he doesn't use cologne or deodorant, because he doesn't want to smell like someone else. He said, "People say I ought to start wearing it." On December 19, 2006, eBay's homepage featured Matthew's picture and named an auction of autographed items he donated to raise money for charity as the "It" of the day. McConaughey is also a die-hard fan of WWE Monday Night RAW, and even claims to have never missed an episode. McConaughey's personal life is the subject of media attention. He has dated actresses Sandra Bullock, Ashley Judd, Salli Richardson, and Penelope Cruz. The two had been together since 2004, following Cruz's break-up with Tom Cruise. He and Cruz separated in April 2006. He is currently dating Brazilian model Camilla Alves. On January 15, 2008, McConaughey announced on his website that he and Camila are expecting a baby, due in late June/early July.

• Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009)

Connor

• Fool's Gold (2008)

Ben "Finn" Finnegan

• Surfer, Dude (2008)
• Failure to Launch (2006)

Tripp

• We Are Marshall (2006)

Jack Lengyel

• Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D (2005)
• Sahara (2005)

Dirk Pitt

• Two for the Money (2005)

Brandon

• Paparazzi (2004)
• Tiptoes (2004)

Steven

• How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)

Benjamin Barry

• Frailty (2002)

Fenton Meeks

• Reign of Fire (2002)

Van Zan

• Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2002)

Troy

• The Wedding Planner (2001)

Steve Edison

• Paranoia (2000)
• U-571 (2000)

Lieutenant Tyler

• Edtv (1999)

Ed

• Welcome to Hollywood (1998)
• The Newton Boys (1998)

Willis Newton

• The Rebel (1998)
• Amistad (1997)

Baldwin

• Contact (1997)

Palmer Joss

• Scorpion Spring (1997)

El Rojo

• Glory Daze (1996)

Rental Truck Guy

• Larger Than Life (1996)

Tip Tucker

• Lone Star (1996)

Buddy Deeds

• A Time to Kill (1996)

Jack Brigance

• Boys on the Side (1995)

Abe Lincoln

• The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1995)

Vilmer

• Angels in the Outfield (1994)

Ben Williams

• Dazed and Confused (1993)

Wooderson

• My Boyfriend's Back (1993)

2nd Guy

His mother, Kay, is a schoolteacher.

Lived briefly in Australia following high school and adopted an Australian accent for awhile after returning to the USA.

Education: University of Texas at Austin (Film)

Graduated 1988 from Longview High School, Longview, Texas.

Brother of Rooster McConaughey.

Arrested in Oct 1999 in Austin, Texas for "resisting transportation" after first being under suspicion for marijuana possession.

Police responded to a disturbance call at Matthew's home in Austin, Tx. in October. When they arrived, the music was blaring and he was playing bongo drums in the nude. He was with an unknown man and police attempted to arrest him after spotting illegal drugs. He resisted arrest.

Was the first choice to play the lead in Titanic (1997).

Travelled around Peru after filming A Time to Kill (1996).

Voted "Most Handsome" in his Senior year of high school.

Member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity.

His favorite sport is golf.

He owns a 1,600-acre ranch in west Texas, which he purchased for $500,000.

His father died of a heart attack in August 1992.

His first professional acting job was in a beer commercial.

Fan of John Mellencamp's music. Was seen wearing a tee shirt from Mellencamp's "Whenever We Wanted" tour in A Time to Kill (1996).

Born on the same day as Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs.

Was on the sidelines of the Texas Longhorns during the 2006 Rose Bowl where the Longhorns beat the USC Trojans 41-38.

Was accompanied by Penélope Cruz to the Grammy Awards in 2005. The couple met on the set of Sahara (2005).

Served as the Grand Marshall for the Daytona 500 in Daytona Beach, Florida in February 2005.

He traveled around the United States for a month in his personal Airsteam trailer promoting his movie Sahara (2005).

During a guest appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (1992), Leno surprised him with an old airline training tape he had acted in. McConaughey had no memory of being in the video.

Is of Irish descent

Despite being a native Texan, he's a big fan of the Washington Redskins NFL team.

People Magazine's 2005 Most Sexiest Man Alive

Turned down a role in The Jackal (1997).

Was considered for a role in Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997).

His life motto is "Just Keep Living"

His brother, Michael McConaughey, aka Rooster McConaughey, had a son and named him Miller Lyte McConaughey.

Doesn't wear deodorant or cologne.

Has three bedrooms in his house and sleeps in all of them in turn.

Announced that he is auctioning his 1971 Chevy Stingray Corvette on Ebay, and donating all the money to Oprah's Angel Network Hurricane Katrina and Rita relief funds.

Has worked with such well-known directors as Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis, Richard Linklater and Jonathan Mostow.

Good friends with Lance Armstrong and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Named one of People Magazine's "Hottest Bachelors" in 2006.

He was considered for the role of "Jack" in Titanic (1997). He then played "Dirk Pitt" (in Sahara (2005)), who found the Titanic in another adventure.

He has traveled around Mali in western Africa.

In November 2007 he bought a 3,500 square foot, 4 bed - 3 bath home in Malibu for $10 million. He was shopping for a home in the area and spotted the property - which was not on the market - and made an offer to the residents for the property, which was accepted.

Afraid of revolving doors.

He was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame in March 2006 in Austin, Texas.

Matthew and Camila Alves became the parents of their first child, a boy named Levi Alves McConaughey, on July 7, 2008, weighing in at 7 lb. 4 oz.

His son's name is Levi Alves McConaughey.

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